Avenging Narayan
by Wallywuzheer
Summary: The events of Myst 3: Exile, from Saavedro's perspective.
1. Narayan

** PROLOGUE**

** Tamra was dead. Saavedro was sure of it. In the years since those two brothers had left Narayan, he'd never seen her. This fact served only to make him more determined to carry out his plan--when he had one. He was angry enough at that accursed family. Now he was more so. **

** Years ago, they had come. Those two brothers, Atrus' sons-Sirrus and Achenar. Saavedro's body seemed to clench up with fury and sadness when he thought of them. He could easily remember when it all started. Their father, Atrus, had come and met him, and later sent his sons to Narayan. Then, they were just two clever, curious boys, sons of a scholar. Their first visit passed uneventfully, and they left Narayan, not coming back for several years. When they did return, a world of change had been wrought in them. No longer were they small, clever pupils, but brilliant, powerful young adults, and as soon as they returned, Saavedro knew they would cause problems. **

** And they did. The brothers took advantage of the natural rebelliousness that dwells in all youths, including those of Narayan. They showed the young men and women Ages (those incredible worlds that the brothers could seemingly create and rule) in which life was much easier than that of their own home. **

** This information, in the now angered minds of the youths, had soon served to throw Narayan into what would eventually become warfare. Sirrus and Achenar, for their part, only encouraged the fighting, and used the confusion that was reigning because of it to usurp Narayan as much as they could, stealing from it knowledge, riches, sometimes even its people. **

** In the midst of all this, Saavedro's wife, Tamra, had disappeared, along with their two children. Whenever he thought of them, he felt the now familiar twinge of fury and remorse. They'd been gone so long now that Saavedro was certain they were dead. **

** And soon after his family had disappeared, Sirrus and Achenar had, too. Or it seemed that way. But, actually, Saavedro was able to follow them when they "disappeared" by linking to where they'd come from in the first place, an Age called J'Nanin. Unfortunately for him, the Age was small, and the brothers soon discovered him. When they did, they tied him up and linked out of the Age, leaving him marooned on J'Nanin, with access only to three small, unpopulated island Ages. For years, Saavedro was exiled there. **

** Then, one day, Atrus had appeared again. Unlike his sons, however, he was unaware of Saavedro's presence on J'Nanin, and did not see him. Also unlike his sons, when he linked out of the Age, he left the Linking Book used for the purpose on J'Nanin. And Saavedro had just found it.**

** He was standing in a room that had once served as Atrus' study on the Age, but had since been adopted by Saavedro for his own purposes. On a table lay a green, leather-bound book. Saavedro turned the book over, and read the single word scrawled across its cover:**

**TOMAHNA**

** Saavedro, feeling feverish with excitement at his discovery, wrenched the book open to its first page. No words were written on it, but a large panel, like a screen, glowed in the center of the page. The panel was displaying a desert world, with towers of sandstone. The scene wouldn't have looked very inviting, but a large structure resembling a greenhouse, over which crawled vines and flowers, changed the whole mood of the place. Saavedro grinned. This was, apparently, Atrus' home. **

** Saavedro was already developing a plan in his quick mind. Atrus, he knew from his sons, wrote like there was nothing else worth doing in life. Every aspect of his work, and much of his life, was recorded in journals. Since Tomahna was his home, Saavedro was certain he'd find Atrus' journals there. His plan was to link there, find his journals, and read them. From them he planned to learn Atrus' loves, hates, fears and concerns. Using this knowledge, he would get revenge on the family that had destroyed Narayan. **

** Looking back down at the linking panel as he developed this plan, he observed that the sky around the Age was beginning to turn orange. Sunset was coming, and night would follow, as it had a tendency to. Saavedro decided to wait a few more hours, until night had come and the house would be asleep. Then, he would link to Tomahna. **


	2. Tomahna

** TOMAHNA**

Tired. That was the best word to describe Atrus right now. He had been scrubbing all of his resources for inspiration for his new Age he was constructing a link to. The Age which, he hoped, would serve as a new home for the few remnants of the city of D'ni. He almost couldn't believe such a task had been placed on his shoulders, yet here it was, nonetheless. He had been looking through all the Ages he'd ever written, seeking inspiration to guide him in making this world for the D'ni. He was more frightened of failing this world than he had been of any other. Though he was nearly finished with his writing of the Age, he wanted to be sure it was as perfect as possible. This Age, Releeshahn, would be his _magnum opus_, and he couldn't let anything go wrong.

Along with the exhausting preparation going into writing Releeshahn, another thing to worry about was his new infant daughter, Yeesha. With the worries that naturally come from raising a baby, Atrus worried about what she would become in her adulthood. He constantly thought of what had gone wrong with Sirrus and Achenar, and he couldn't let it happen again. He knew his mistake, and it would not be repeated. The problem with Sirrus and Achenar was that Atrus had hardly ever been there for them. All his two sons usually ever had of their father was a note, or a recording, or some other version of him that wasn't really him. He wouldn't do that to Yeesha. A child was like a flower. You couldn't just plant it and then hope for adequate rain and sun to take care of it. If you wanted it to turn out well you had to be there to tend to it and see that nothing goes wrong. Yeesha was a new flower, and he would be there to take care of her.

And with this resolution being made in his head for the hundredth time, Atrus turned in.

Saavedro shook off the disorientation following his link to Tomahna. Much to his dismay, he'd linked directly into the house, instead of outside it, which would've been safer. He crouched by the floor like a frightened cat, ears pricked for any out-of-place sound. None came. Slowly, cautiously, he stood up and surveyed his surroundings. He appeared to be in a sort of study, but there were few books in it. There were some tapestries hanging on the walls, and a desk with a magnifying glass, an odd looking red stone, and...a picture frame, in which there were two pictures. Saavedro immediately recognized the subjects of the pictures. Sirrus and Achenar. He quickly turned away from the desk, and looked around some more. The only other distinguishing feature of the room was a glass safe in its center. He walked to it but found, to his disappointment, that it was empty. He left the safe and saw, in front of him...a door, slightly open. He strode over to it. Upon reaching the door, he didn't open it, but peered through it. From what he could see, no one was in the room. Saavedro then grabbed the door handle firmly, and flung open the door (opening it slowly would make it easier to creak). He smiled triumphantly as he walked in.

This was surely Atrus' study. At least three desks were in the room, each with various small contraptions and instruments on them, and along with these, books. Scores of them. Quickly but silently he strode over to one of the desks, flipping through books until he saw Atrus' handwriting. After finding one such book, he sneaked into a dark corner, and hunched down until he was hardly visible. Using a solitary beam of moonlight, he began to read.

Saavedro repeated the same routine, for several nights. He would spend the whole night sometimes at Tomahna until pale green sunlight began to sneak over the horizon, at which point he'd promptly link back to J'Nanin. He had yet to find anything truly valuable. Most of the journals he read were simply records of various experiments Atrus was conducting, either that or the entries were from years ago, and the contents probably no longer valuable. Saavedro began to get discouraged. Perhaps Atrus simply used his journals for scientific reasons, and he didn't believe in recording something as trivial (or as important) as feelings on paper. Still, Saavedro pressed on, hoping he would eventually stumble upon something.

And on his fifth visit to Tomahna, he did. He found a small, red journal, securely tucked away in the back of a drawer. It had no dust on it, a sign that it hadn't been there long. And upon reading it, he found something that was very current, and very important. Atrus was working on an Age, a great one, to house the remnants of D'ni. Saavedro had read of the D'ni over and over in Atrus' journals. Apparently, at one point, he'd been working on the restoration of the great city, but had given up. Now, it appeared he had instead decided to relocate it.

Atrus himself was trying to create a new D'ni, called Releeshahn. After reading this small journal, he suddenly remembered the glass safe in the room he always linked into. After seeing it empty the first time, he had usually disregarded it. But all of a sudden he felt certain he knew what the contents of the safe were supposed to be. Saavedro carefully replaced the journal to the drawer, and went into the safe room. He stood directly over the large glass dome, and underneath it, Saavedro could clearly see a huge, red book, with a large lock on it. And, as if he didn't already know what the book was, across the cover was the title:

RELEESHAHN

He wondered to himself just how stupid it would be to smash the safe, grab the book, and bolt. Yes, it would be very stupid. And, he had just decided, Atrus should follow him, and he probably wouldn't, as Saavedro currently had the linking book to J'Nanin hidden. No...next time, he would come to Tomahna in broad daylight, and he would leave the book to J'Nanin in plain sight, so Atrus would surely follow. Then, he'd make Atrus chase him through his ridiculous Ages, and let him obsess over the fate his precious book. And, at the end of the trail, he'd make Atrus set things right in Narayan, as a trade for Releeshahn.

Satisfied with that idea, Saavedro then quietly exited the house, and linked back to J'Nanin.


End file.
